Sunday, 3 July 2016

Getting the most out of a partnership's latency phase

What is the latency
phase?

To start with a scientific example:

When water is heated gradually towards boiling point, there is a period
of time, just before it boils, when its temperature stops rising and remains
constant. During this phase the energy from the heat applied is being used to
change the internal state of the water, to loosen up its molecules in readiness
for its transformation into water vapour and steam. Once this internal, hidden
activity is completed the temperature of the water begins to rise again, until
it reaches 100 degrees and vapours and steam rise into the air. The period of
constant temperature observed just before the water begins to boil is called
its latency phase.

Many Partnerships
experience their own version of the latency phase.

Working in partnership with other organisations can be time consuming
and resource intensive. Sometimes, a partnership can seem like a gigantic black
hole, pulling in all the time and resources around it without any glimmer or
shimmer of a reaction. It can feel as if an eternity is passing, with more and
more resources disappearing into the abyss and increasingly frenetic activity
observable around its edges that is focused upon managing and slowing the
flow.

Eventually, however, after the partnership black hole has spent ages
sating its enormous appetite, the seemingly impossible happens. The black hole
transforms into an intensely bright globe that radiates energy to all corners
of its universe. Also, where previously it seemed to pull time and resources
greedily and violently into itself like a gluttonous ogre, it now attracts them
without effort because of its magnetic dynamism and the unselfish sharing of
its innate brilliance.

When is a
partnership’s latency phase most likely to occur?

The latency phase is most likely to manifest itself several weeks or
months into the life span of the partnership, depending on how often the
partners get together. The initial coming together of the partnership will
usually be characterised by lots of enthusiasm, fuelled mainly by the newness
and novelty of the project and the meeting of new and interesting people. This
enthusiasm will carry the development of the partnership forwards for a while:
an overall purpose or vision will be agreed upon, and an initial plan of action
drawn up. Both during this process, however, and the related process of
agreeing roles and responsibilities, partners will start to think more deeply
about their place within the partnership and the nature of their relationships
with others around the table. They will begin to notice and analyse the
internal and interpersonal dynamics of the partnership. The latency phase will
probably begin soon after partners begin to think in this way.

Whether or not the
latency phase leads to the positive transformation of a partnership depends
very much upon how it is perceived.

If the latency phase is perceived negatively, as a source of delay and
inactivity, then it will cause frustration and people will want to battle through
it as quickly as possible. If this happens it is likely that the partnership
will not put sufficient energy into the formation of its internal processes and
relationships and consequently experience difficulty in transforming itself
into an effective, results rich enterprise. If, however, the latency phase is
perceived positively, as a phase that can, if given time, work some powerful
magic on the internal workings of the partnership, significant attention and
energy is likely to be devoted to it, making the previously described
transformation much more likely to happen.

What, specifically,
is going on during the latency phase of a partnership?

2. How can we
effectively manage the social and cultural differences between us?

3. How can we
balance the core goals and interests of the partnership with those of the
individual partners involved?

4. How can we
effectively address the issues and problems related to partners’ differing
environments and localities?

5. How can we
effectively manage the expectations we have of each other and the partnership
in general?

6.What are
our individual communication needs and how can we communicate with each other
most effectively?

7.How can we
build an attractive, accessible and resourceful platform or foundation for the
partnership that will act as an effective focus for its activities?

All the above questions are centred upon a partnership’s internal needs,
processes and relationships, and because almost all of them involve the
facilitation and management of interpersonal relationships, they can take time
to explore, understand and address effectively. Any stakeholders observing a
partnership during this time could be forgiven for thinking that it had ground
to a halt and become nothing more than a talking shop. In fact, this talk is
laying the foundations for future success.

How can we ensure
that a partnership’s latency phase becomes a catalyst for effective partnership
working?

If we want to ensure the latency phase becomes a catalyst for
transforming a partnership into a bright, unselfish beacon of achievement, we
need to manage its fragile dynamics very carefully. Five specific things we can
do are:

Perceive the latency phase positively,acknowledging the crucial role it plays in helping a partnership develop and realise its potential.

An informal
approach will help partners relax, form personal relationships and share their

wants, needs, hopes, fears, expectations and aspirations;it will lay the foundations for trust.

Meeting
partners on their own patch and at times that fit in with their day to day
activities can of itself go a long way towards building trust, gaining better
social and cultural understanding, and appreciating differing expectations and
communication needs. It will also highlight the practical challenges presented
by the locality and environment within which the partnership is working.

Create a shared sense of partnership time. This is
perhaps the most abstract but in many ways one of the most powerful things a partnership can do to help ensure its safe and productive passage through the
latency phase. We all perceive the passing of time in different ways. These
perceptions are influenced by the cultures we live and work within and how
important or central an issue or subject is to us. If we are used to working within
a fast paced environment we will become frustrated if results are not achieved
quickly. If we are used to a slower pace, then not achieving results quickly
will not worry us so much. If an issue is important to us it can often, regardless of the actual amount of time involved, feel as if ages are passing
before it is addressed. If an issue is not important to us then the amount of
time passing before it is addressed is of little or no personal significance,
so even long periods of inactivity can go by almost unnoticed.

These
differing perceptions of time and the significance of its passing will all be
interacting with each other as a partnership comes together and goes through
its latency phase. If these perceptions are not managed effectively they will
cause mutual frustration, misunderstandings and perhaps even conflict.

Encouraging
partners to think explicitly about how they perceive, react to and use the time
they spend working together will discourage unhelpful preconceptions about what
should be happening by when. It will help create a new, shared sense of pace
and time that is appropriate to a partnership, what it needs to achieve and how
it needs to achieve it.Discussions about partners' expectations and obligations, together with discussions about the balance and timing of rewards allocated to partners, are practical ways to create this shared sense of partnership time. For more about collaboration go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition

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